by The assumed turning points have passed and hardly a peep has been made public by the insiders of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ contract negotiations with all-time star Sidney Crosby.
Crosby is entering the final year of a 12-year contract that both sides agree will keep him for the rest of his career. Crosby will turn 38 next summer, the age at which the vast majority of players have or plan to retire.
And yet Crosby’s fuel gauge doesn’t seem to be in the yellow zone yet. Or even close.
The summer was full of speculation and expectations. He would sign on July 1st, right? Then many assumed that Crosby would surely sign a new contract on August 7th, his birthday with numerological and personal significance.
And now the offseason is almost behind us, but a contract is still pending.
After discussions on Friday, Pittsburgh Hockey Now can confirm that there is once again silence on all sides. Those in charge do not want to release any information, even if they are given the opportunity to stop some speculation. An information blackout.
And that is exactly where we are now.
Penguins Trades
The The Penguins’ acquisition of another third-round pick from the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (at the cost of moving the second-round pick from 2025 to 2026) seemed a little misunderstood. Of course, the Penguins got a third-round pick (and gave up a fifth-round pick) to make the move, but the delay in the pick told us a lot about the timeline of Penguins President of Hockey/GM Kyle Dubas.
If Dubas was in a hurry, the 2025 pick from a team in the midst of a rebuild might have been too good to give up, even for an extra-round pick. However, Dubas is obviously playing the long game, and the turnaround won’t happen quickly.
If Dubas had hoped for a quicker turnaround, instead of helping St. Louis sign restricted free agents Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, the Penguins would have gone after RFAs in their early 20s (the Penguins were missing their second-round pick due to the Erik Karlsson trade when they sent him to the Montreal Canadiens to get Casey DeSmith and Jeff Petry).
Part of Dubas’ long-term game was looking for options rather than young players who needed a first or second chance.
However, the Penguins have a few trade pieces whose upgradability has increased following the signings of Kevin Hayes and Cody Glass, as well as the additions of Anthony Beauvillier and Blake Lizotte. It appears that Noel Acciari and Lars Eller could be traded away to obtain more draft picks and make room for younger players like Vasily Ponomarev to make the jump to the NHL.
Perhaps to increase his trade value, NHL executives need to see Acciari’s reckless abandon on the wing rather than the buttoned-up center he was, whose impact was solid if unspectacular.
Eller may have some value, but at 35 years old, the value could be slightly lower than at the 2023 NHL transfer deadline, when the Washington Capitals received a 2025 second-round pick.
To make room for young players, the Penguins could give up some veterans, like Glass, who was signed on Tuesday. However, having multi-million dollar veterans in the AHL would have financial implications for the organization, and the salary cap would also drop.
The maximum deduction for “set aside salaries” is $1.15 million for 2024–25.
Alex Nedeljkovic
Okay, that just made me laugh out loud. Alex Nedeljkovic could invent a new sport: on-ice breakdancing.
His imitation of the Australian breakdancer was simply beautiful.
Is it just us or were the goalkeepers breakdancing the whole time? pic.twitter.com/Ga5mMzIY7S
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) 16 August 2024
